Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) (47 page)

Ari was just about to speak when she saw Ragon draw his hand out of his pocket, a small diamond ring held in his fingers. Ari’s mouth fell open when he dropped to one knee.

“I have spent the last few hundred years searching for you Ariana Sol. Now that I have found you, I won’t let you go,” he said, reaching for Ari’s hand and holding onto it so tightly that Ari almost moaned in pain. “Before I met you I was incomplete, but falling in love with you has made me whole again.”

For the first time since losing Ryder, Ari felt whole again too.

“Will you marry me?”

Ari didn’t even have to think about her answer.    

“Yes,” she breathed, letting Ragon slip the silver band onto her finger.

Ragon leapt into the air and hugged her.

“God you make me so happy,” he said.

Ari smiled and the pair grasped hands, before Ragon lifted her into his arms and raced towards Cruor halls, blurring them through the rain.

Chapter 24- Just another School Day

The next morning Ari woke in Ragon’s arms. For one terrible moment, she thought that last night might have been a dream, but then glanced down at her left hand. Sparkling back up at her was the engagement ring that Ragon had given her. The ring was elegant, made from white gold, with a large central diamond the shape of a rectangle, and smaller diamonds dotting the band.

“Let’s get married at your family estate,” she said, the moment that Ragon had awoken.

In response he kissed her passionately on the lips, letting his tongue dance in her mouth before he said, “Anything you want.”

But as Ari nodded her head in agreement, a strange expression spread across her face. Not for the first time, the question of mortality came surging to the surface. Ari was human. She had always thought that she and Ragon would be together forever, even if that was just one lifetime, but what would happen in a many years, when Ari started to age?  

“Ragon,” she said, “can I ask you a question? Would you… I mean, if we knew that I would survive the process, would you want me to become a vampire?”

“Well, yes,” Ragon said, “but-”

“-would you want that?” she asked, cutting across his dazed expression.

“Would you? I don’t mean the bonded part or how we would get to be together forever, but the vampire bit. Killing and living off blood, hiding in the shadows, never getting to feel the sun on your face.”

“But we would have each other.”

“It’s not that simple Ariana,” he countered, using her full name and enouncing every syllable. “You know that not all fledglings live; sometimes the toxin doesn’t work and-”

“-but it worked for Jamie. It’s just, we’re going to be married but… what happens in a few years?”

“We will have been married for a few years,” he said dismissively.

“Wouldn’t you want us to be together forever though?”  

“I don’t know,” he said sadly, before quickly adding, “I want to be with you; I can’t imagine us being apart, but I don’t think your becoming a vampire is the answer. Do you know what it would do to me if I tried to turn you and it didn’t work? I would die. That would be it; all because I wasn’t happy with a single lifetime with you. I know the time I have with you is precious… but I am prepared to live this lifetime with you, at your rate, and after that, well…”

Ragon’s voice trailed off.

“Well, what?” she asked.

“If you were in my shoes, and you were the vampire and I was the mortal, what would you do if I died?”

Ari frowned. She knew her answer to his question but did not want to voice it. She would, of course, put an end to her suffering. What was the point of living without Ragon? And it wouldn’t just be suffering for a few years, but all of eternity.

“Ok, well then you should become human again,” she laughed, but then sat bolt upright in bed. “Wait, is that possible; have you ever heard of a cure?”

“No such thing I’m afraid, but if there were, I would take it in heartbeat.”

“And we would live happily ever after,” she added, sinking back into bed a little deflated.

“Let’s not worry about the future today. We’re together now. That’s all that matters.”

Ari stared at her bed sheets. She had expected this to be Ragon’s answer, and in truth, she was grateful. Did she want to be a vampire? She had asked herself this question a thousand times since falling in love with Ragon, but still had no answer.

“Do you think two weeks is too soon?” asked Ragon, distracting Ari from her thoughts, “That will make our wedding on Saturday in a fortnight.”

“I don’t know much about weddings but I don’t think you can plan one that quickly.”

“Sandra can get anything organised in two weeks. I remember when I first met her, she had a thing for Bing Crosby-” said Ragon.

“-who?”

“Right,” said Ragon, smiling lightly before he added, “a famous singer. He was around in the 1930’s. Anyway, the point is, Sandra often boasts that she organised a concert for him in Chicago’s Tivoli with less than twenty-four hours’ notice. I am sure that it took a fair amount of lulling, but just think what she could do with two full weeks!”

“It would be nice to know that the person delivering the flowers hadn’t been bitten.”  

“So it’s ok?” he asked. “Sandra would probably kill me if I didn’t let her plan this anyway.”

Ari nodded slowly and then Ragon reached up and cupped her cheek, pulling her head down to his and kissing her passionately on the lips.

“In two weeks you will be my wife,” he said, and though he continued to kiss her, Ari felt his lips widen into a smile.

After that Ari had gone to the mess hall for a late breakfast. All the way through the line to the cereal area, Ari’s thought were firmly plastered on thoughts of becoming a vampire, examining the pro’s and con’s. She tried to push these thoughts out of her mind as she searched for an empty table. To her delight, she spied Chris and Lea at a lone table near the back, both holding hands as they simultaneously ate their breakfast. Lea tried valiantly to spoon her scrambled eggs into her mouth with her left hand, while Chris had thrown his fork down and begun picking up the strips of bacon and piling them into his mouth with his right. Ari beamed at them. They really were the most curious couple and Ari couldn’t be happier for them.

“So,” she said, sitting down next to Lea and taking a meaningful gulp of her orange juice, as she tried to show off her engagement ring.

But Chris and Lea were so wrapped up in their enjoyment with each other, that it took a full ten minutes and many obvious gestures from Ari, before Lea finally noticed the large diamond ring adorning her finger.

“Oh my god,” said Lea, suddenly reaching for Ari’s hand before she squealed in excitement. “You and Ragon are engaged!”

“Congrats,” said Chris.

“I know we have exams soon, but you both have to keep Saturday fortnight free,” said Ari, no longer throwing her hand into the spotlight, but focusing solely on her cereal and toast. “It will be holidays then and we’re going to get married at Ragon’s estate. You have to be there.”

“Wow, that’s soon,” said Chris, staring at Ari before glancing down at her stomach.

“Seriously?” said Lea, glaring up at him.

“I’m not pregnant,” said Ari, unable to stop herself from letting out a small laugh.

But quickly the laughter faded, and Ari realised that she never would be pregnant. The only way a vampire could have a child was if their partner was a waere. This thought left her deflated. Though Ari had never been particularly maternal, there had always been something appealing about being a mother. Having not grown up with a family had made her yearn for one of her own someday. But Ragon was her family now and the rest of the coven, and she had her brother. Besides, Ari could spoil Rya rotten.

“Ragon wouldn’t be the first vamp to miraculously father a child,” said Chris, pulling Ari from her thoughts and then ducking when Lea made to squat him with her napkin.

“Such a jerk,” Lea muttered under her breath, but Ari couldn’t help but notice how Lea’s hand rushed to Chris’s, as if wanting to make quite certain that he knew he was forgiven.

After breakfast Lea kissed Chris goodbye and rushed off to a lecture, while Ari and Chris walked mechanically to their last class of the semester.

“I’m glad that you and Lea are together,” said Ari, dragging on her lab coat as she and Chris changed for their prac.

“Yea, and it is great that you and Ragon are engaged,” said Chris, inspecting a large stain on his off-white lab coat, before shrugging and pulling it on. “Look, Ari,” he added, “I know we had a bit of a dicey time together not that long ago, and I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I really am happy for you and Ragon. When we were fighting the Ancients, well, I saw how much he loved you and I know that you love him. You two will be really happy together.”

“Ready for one last dive into the dissection lab?” asked Lisa, appearing in front of the two, before Ari had a chance to reply.

Chris nodded enthusiastically, and Ari whooped when she realised that this would be the last time that they would have anatomy practical classes. Despite the battle at the Farm and the return of many of the missing students, no one except for Ari, the coven, Lea, Chris and Riley, were any the wiser that life as they knew it had very nearly changed forever. Now as Ari looked at Lisa, she couldn’t help but be amazed at how oblivious the girl was. She would probably never know that she and the rest of the human race had very nearly become no better than farm animals.

The moment that Chris and Ari entered the lab, they moved over to their regular table and were soon joined by Lisa and Rick.

“Saw you dancing with that babe Lea last night,” said Rick.

“Ari, I didn’t know you were a lesbian,” said Lisa, laughing at Ari.

“Actually,” said Chris, “Rick was talking to me.”

“But why would you dance with Lea?” said Lisa, as if the notion was entirely dismissive. “Isn’t she that red haired frizz ball who lives on the lower level of Omega? Did she trick you? Were you drunk?”

Ari glared at Lisa but before she could respond, one of the tutors moved over to their table.

“Is there anything that I can help you with,” the tutor asked.

Ari had still been death staring Lisa and didn’t realise until Chris kicked her hard under the table, that it was Jamie who spoke.

“Ouch,” she said, reaching down and rubbing her foot.

“Don’t mind her,” said Lisa, batting her eyelids at Jamie, “she’s a bit slow.”

Ari was fuming. After protecting the world from vampires, not to mention saving Lisa’s life, Ari had hoped that something deep inside Lisa might have made her just a little bit friendly; clearly that was not the case.

“Tell me,” said Jamie, looking down sternly at Lisa, “what can you see on this slide?”

Jamie thrust a slide to Lisa, who took it carefully and placed it under the microscope. For a few minutes Lisa ummed at the slide, apparently unable to discern what it was that Jamie had handed her.

“Pity,” said Jamie, when a few minutes of silence had passed. “I would have expected a 4
^th
year student to be able to recognise a slide from a cat with Chlamydia.” Jamie winked surreptitiously at Ari, so that Lisa, still staring through the eye pieces of the microscope, could not see. “You do realise that your end of semester exams are less than a week away.”

Ari stared up at Jamie in confusion, while Lisa scoffed. How did Jamie know what a cytological slide of a cat with Chlamydia looked like anyway? What was he even doing in this room and why was he dressed like a tutor?

“Miss Sol,” Jamie said suddenly, handing over another slide, which Ari quickly took and began looking at under the microscope in front of her. “What do you see?”

Ari took a few moments to focus the slide, during which time Lisa snickered under her breath.